US, Portland home prices grow at slowest rate in years

U.S. home prices rose at their slowest pace in nearly two years as the national housing hot streak cooled off.

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller home price index shows national home prices climbed at a rate of 5.5 percent in the year that ended in September. That's the slowest increase since January 2017.

The trend follows the Portland area's lead. Home prices grew 5.1 percent year-over-year, the slowest growth in six years.

The slowdown comes amid an increase in mortgage rates. The average fixed rate for a 30-year mortgage has climbed nearly a full percentage point over the past year to 4.81 percent last week, the highest since 2011.

That's taken a bite out of home-shoppers' buying power, leaving them unable to stretch as far on price. And rising home prices in recent years has outpaced growth in wages, putting more homes out of reach for more people.

Home sales have slowed as a result, as has construction of new houses.

The biggest annual increases in home prices were seen in Las Vegas (13.5 percent), San Francisco (9.9 percent) and Seattle (8.4 percent.) Portland fell in the bottom half of the 20 cities included in the index, at No. 13.

The median home price in the Portland metro was $392,500 in September, according to the Regional Multiple Listing Service. It climbed to $395,000 in October.